Greeley bikers band together to protect kids, fight child abuse

The Bikers Against Child Abuse group stands along 28th Street on Wednesday in east Greeley. The group was created to protect victims of child Abuse. "I've seen what it does for the kids there is no body else serving that need." Said the group's Vice President, a man that goes by the name Bubba.

A patch from Bikers Against Child Abuse stands out on the vest of a woman who goes by her biker name, Splitz, as she stands next to her friends and fellow member, Firecracker, on Wednesday afternoon in east Greeley.

For additional information about the national program, including membership requirements and chapters across the world, go to www.bacaworld.org.

BACA intervention

Bikers Against Child Abuse works to create a “safer environment for abused children,” according to its mission statement. Formed in 1995 nationally, individual chapters work with local and state officials to help empower a child to stand up to abusers.

There are multiple types of intervention including:

Level 1: Members organize a ride to a victim’s home to welcome the child into the motorcycle family to send a message to abusers that the child has support.

Level 2: If someone’s well-being remains at risk, members will organize a stake out and act as “security” at the child’s home.

Level 3: If a perpetrator continues to make threats, local BACA members will send a letter to his or her home and stress that they will take whatever means necessary to keep the kid safe.

Level 4: If hostility continues, members will organize a showing of support and ride through the alleged perpetrator’s neighborhood, distribute materials and ensure he or she knows their presence is real.

BACA members will also help empower a child who is going to testify in court proceedings. Under strict guidelines, they will make sure the child feels safe during testimony and does not get intimidated by anyone else who may show up. At times, they may even make a human shield as the child walks into the courtroom.

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With skull rings, a jet-black leather cut-off jacket and a weathered and raspy voice, the man who goes by the name Pothole doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a guardian angel.

Looks can be deceiving.

For more than a year, Pothole has helped grow a force of northern Colorado motorcycle riders as part of an international effort aimed at empowering kids who have been victims of domestic violence or child abuse.

Though the northern division of Bikers Against Child Abuse is small — as Pothole puts it, they’re still under construction — they’re already making major differences across Weld and Larimer Counties by showing kids how to be brave and stand up to abusers all across the region.

“We try to help bring the kids out of their shells, find their innocence and be a kid again,” Pothole said, a hint of anger apparent in his voice. “They’ve been robbed — robbed of their innocence. We just try to help them go back to being a kid. Once they get the power back, they can be a kid again.”

He knows how intimidating a burly biker can be. As president of the local chapter of BACA, he knows it’s an image thousands of BACA members across the world draw on.

Individual chapters work with multiple agencies that handle child welfare cases, including private practice therapists and government groups like the Weld County Department of Human Services.

Once a case is filed into the system, a caseworker or therapist determines to what extent BACA intervention could help, and the groups exchange information and craft a plan.

Children and family members often live in fear that suspected perpetrators or abusers can retaliate if anyone — especially the kids — speak up. But that fear of retaliation fades pretty fast when someone knows a group of leather-clad, patched and tattooed bikers has their back.

The difference BACA members make with the families is invaluable, said Gabrielle Arreola-Brighton, who works with Weld DHS and coordinates cases with BACA officials.

“I just wish more people would know about it,” she said, highlighting years of success working with both the Greeley-based Twin Peaks Chapter of bikers as well as others across Colorado. “I think so many people are a little taken aback about it because they are bikers. These are great guys.”

Kids may be initially intimidated when burly motorcycle riders roll up to a home in road gear for the initial consultation, Pothole said. But it doesn’t take long for the kids to warm up to the bikers and realize that the kids — not the grown-ups — are in charge.

Crews give vests to the kids and help them pick out their road patch and even their road names — a signature among bikers.

Then things get a little more sentimental.

BACA supporters takes turns passing a stuffed bear around a circle and “fill it with hugs,” Pothole said.

Then, whenever a kid thinks the bear is getting “low on hugs,” bikers return to the home and reassure the child that everything will be OK.

“It’s kind of their security blanket from us knowing that we’re there,” Pothole said, adding the kid is then part of the biker family and has friends to talk to no matter what happens.

Pothole joined the group more than a year ago as a way to blend camaraderie with his love of riding — his bike of choice at the moment is a 2002 Honda Shadow Sabre loaded with custom parts, of course.

Since then, he has moved through the ranks and become the group’s road captain, president and child liaison.

He was never after the titles or the patches. To him, it’s always been about the kids.

The Greeley-based Twin Peaks Chapter earned its temporary charter last year and is getting close to earning its permanent designation pending further stringent review from BACA overseers.

With 19 unofficial members currently — a number Pothole expects will grow — people from all walks of life are included. From former construction workers to business professionals and even engineers, everyone shares a similar passion to protect the children.

And each — from Bubba to Giz to Splitz — brings his or her own perspective.

Though day-to-day garb often turns to suits and business-casual attire, when the crew gets a call to protect a kid or make an appearance in court to help empower children, they break out the cuts and gloves and go into biker mode.

“We have to look the part,” Pothole said, stressing the “B” in BACA stands for biker. “We have to act the part. We have to be the part.”

BACA also has chapters in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, and when members get a call that a child is in need, riders will cruise sometimes hundreds of miles to make a stand.

And sometimes that stand is a little extra sweet.

Pothole remembers a case in which a child was going to testify against a gang member accused of abuse. But members got word that other gang members had been planning a showing of support in the courtroom for the alleged perp.

During the court proceedings, gangsters turned out to support their fellow member and sat in the gallery of the courtroom intending to send a message to the victim.

Not on BACA’s watch.

Members turned out in droves that day and told the kid to look toward them in the gallery instead of the thugs. And when it came time for the child to walk down the aisle near the gangsters, bikers formed a human shield and watched the kid walk out after testifying with a sense of accomplishment instead of fear.

It’s moments like that, Pothole said, that speak volumes to the group’s mission.

“We don’t believe in violence,” he said simply. “But if we’re that only obstacle, we’re not going to let anybody get to that kid. We’re there to empower them. We want them to feel safe.”